The accused had convinced a placement agency in Bhandup to send job applicants to him, saying he had contacts within the company; he would meet them inside the airport and take money in return for 'jobs'

A cheat posed as an employee of Jet Airways and conned more than 25 job aspirants in the city. What’s more, he even convinced a job placement agency to send him their candidates. The Bhandup police, where the case is registered, have arrested the three owners of the agency and the main accused in the case.

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According to the police, the fraud was identified as Sudhir Roy (30), a resident of Kanjurmarg, who approached a placement agency in Dreams Mall in Bhandup (West), run by Atul Tiwari (23), Ajay alias Surender Pandey (23) and Naresh Duttakhot (25).

Police Sub-Inspector Deepali Kulkarni from Bhandup police station said, “The trio runs a placement agency in Dreams Mall. Roy met them six months ago and claimed that he had contacts in Jet Airways and could procure jobs for their candidates.

The agency people got convinced and even let him put up posters bearing his number outside their office, to attract more people.” The firm would send their candidates directly to Roy.

'Authentic'In order to look the part, Roy would wear the Jet Airways uniform and would only meet candidates inside the airport premises, just outside Terminal 1. He charged different amounts for different ‘hires’ he made Rs 12,000 for a supervisor, Rs 8,000 for a loader, Rs 15,000 for ground staff and Rs 16,000 for a cashier.

He even dispatched fake appointment letters bearing the company logo. “When the aspirants turned up at the company, they were made to run from pillar-to-post, as naturally, no one could tell them where they had been ‘employed’. Realising something was amiss, the victims lodged a complaint with the Bhandup police,” Kulkarni added.

Police then raided the placement office and arrested the trio, who revealed Roy’s role. The complainant and some other victims fixed an appointment with Roy outside the domestic airport on Saturday.

As the 30-year-old arrived, plainclothes policemen, who were waiting for him, arrested him on the spot. They recovered several fake letterheads of Jet Airways and R70,000 in cash from his home. Kulkarni said police also booked the placement agency for operating without a proper licence.

Slew of chargesThe accused have been booked under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 451 (house-trespass in order to commit offence), 455 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

They have been remanded to police custody. Around 12 aspirants have approached the cops, but more than 25 are expected to come forward as victims.